Forever Is Eternal
by Hope Meijer
Summary: What happened to the future Titans after Starfire went through the portal? NightwingxStarfire Sort of AUFuture fic on How Long Is Forever COMPLETE
1. Forever Is Eternal

FOREVER IS ETERNAL  
  
~*~  
  
Author's Note: Tag scene for How Long Is Forever? I sat and watched it last night and it's sooo cute! Rob/Star...or Night/Star if you think about it; it's what happened after Star went through the portal. We never got to find out about the future lot, so I thought I might write what I thought happened. Hope you like ^.^  
  
~*~  
  
Nightwing silently turned away from the portal and started walking towards the door.  
  
"Thanks guys. We couldn't have done it without your help."  
  
There was a pause, and suddenly he found the doorway blocked by a wall of black matter.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Raven's quiet voice carried across the room.  
  
Nightwing turned to face the three others grouped together in the middle of the room, a pained expression on his face. "Home. Where I live now." When there was no reply, he sighed and carried on. "Look, although her," he couldn't bear to say her name, "appearance in our time may have brought up some good memories, it hasn't changed anything. Without her, the Teen Titans do not exist. She's the one that held us together. Now, goodnight." And with that, he was gone.  
  
"Dude..." Beast Boy started, "I think he's wrong..."  
  
Cyborg glanced down at his little buddy in time to see him grow a few feet, lost a few stone and gain some hair on top of his head. Cyborg's face lost it's premature lines and wrinkles, and Raven's eyes (the only visible part of her face at that time) narrowed slightly as if she were (god forbid ^.^) smiling. She floated up and twirled in the air a couple of times.  
  
"I feel younger," she stated simply.  
  
"Maybe we are," Beast Boy announced, changing into a cheetah, elephant, parrot, mouse and kitten in rapid succession.  
  
"I don't think so," Cyborg replied. "Maybe Star managed to change everything after all, and we're changing to suit the new past/future she created."  
  
Beast Boy just looked confused.  
  
Raven nodded. "That's probably right, but if so, what of Nightwing? And where's Star?"  
  
Cyborg shrugged. "Maybe we'll find out later. So, who's up to going home? Our *real* home," he added.  
  
~*~  
  
The breeze pushed Nightwing's shoulder length hair back out of his face as he sat on top of Titan's Tower staring out to sea. He hadn't been here since Star had disappeared through the portal twenty years ago, preferring to keep himself busy with his nightly vigil of the town. The youthful fiery leader of his previous alias Robin had disappeared with the amiable Tamaran girl, replaced by the solitude-seeking fighter of now, aptly named Nightwing. With no friends to relax alongside, all spare emotions and energy had gone into fighting crime, and with a cruel twist of fate he realised ironically he had become exactly like he was when he was fighting Slade. Only then, he had Starfire to pull him out of his shell and show him that friends were more important that personal revenge. It just went to show how dependant they all were on her – she held them together. Without her, they were nothing.  
  
~*~  
  
Cyborg yawned as he and Beast Boy played their fifth video game of the night. He noticed he was falling behind and quickly button-bashed in an attempt to gain some ground.  
  
Raven rolled her eyes as she carried on reading her book. After their return to Titan's Tower and discovery that everything was back to how they had left it, she had immediately found her book and started reading it again. Old habits die hard.  
  
"Anyone else tired?" Cyborg asked as he overtook Beast Boy again.  
  
"Yeah, like I can't remember anything of today..." the not-so-little green changeling shrugged.  
  
"My memory is fuzzy; I can't remember much of anything," Raven replied.  
  
"What are you talking about?" came Nightwing's voice from the doorway.  
  
"Man, I was wondering where you were. How long you been up there?" Cyborg asked, putting down his controller and relaxing after his fifth victory over Beast Boy.  
  
"Not long," Nightwing shrugged. "Just needed some fresh air. My mind's all fogged up."  
  
"Same here, dude," Beast Boy jumped over the sofa.  
  
"Nothing a good night's sleep won't cure," Raven told them, putting her book down.  
  
Before anyone could reply, there was a swoosh as the automated door opened, and Nightwing, who was closest, found himself in a strong hug.  
  
"Star?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah! Star!" Cyborg called, and Beast Boy jumped up and down as she embraced them in turn.  
  
"Dudette! You're back!" he exclaimed. Raven merely smiled and returned the hug from her close friend.  
  
"My friends, are you well?" Starfire asked.  
  
"Yeah...where've you been?" Nightwing asked as he came down the steps and joined the group.  
  
"I told you, I went to visit my family for a couple of days. Do you not remember?"  
  
"Our memories are kinda fuzzy, Star," Cyborg explained.  
  
She laughed. "Did you get yourselves into trouble whilst I was away?"  
  
"Like we said, our memories are kinda fuzzy," Beast Boy replied.  
  
"You have not been drinking the intoxicating human beverage?" Star asked suspiciously.  
  
"Alcohol?" Nightwing added. "No, I don't think so."  
  
Beast Boy looked doubtful. "You sure, dude? Feels like I'm getting one hell of a hangover..."  
  
"How was your journey, Star?" Raven asked, pointedly ignoring Beast Boy's attempt at a poor joke.  
  
Starfire beamed. "My family were well, and pleased to see me. They promise to visit soon, as they wish to meet my friends. The time went so fast while I was there, it was over before I had even got there!"  
  
"Really?" Cyborg asked. "Felt like you were gone twenty years! We thought you weren't coming back!"  
  
"You are all silly then," Starfire laughed. "I would never leave you. We are friends forever, remember?"  
  
Nightwing wrapped his arms around her waist and the others grinned at the couple. "How long is forever?" he asked her.  
  
"Forever is eternal," Starfire replied, before yawning.  
  
"Bed time, guys," Cyborg said. "We can catch up properly tomorrow."  
  
Nightwing just held Star and kissed her forehead.  
  
He had his Starfire back.  
  
~*~  
  
Author's Note: Go on, tell me what you think! I'm really pleased with my paragraph about Nightwing...especially seeing as it was written at about 11:30 pm last night...REVIEW!!! PLEASE!!! 


	2. Nevermore

FOREVER IS ETERNAL

Author's Note: Um...I got so many requests to carry on, I decided to do one more chapter. Songfic to Nevermore by Nyteshade (my band...lyrics belong to Aleilisth and me, so NO duplication or usage without our permission!!!) It's a bit AU...I'm making up bits and changing the timeline (i.e. there is and was no Terra) to fit the lyrics and storyline. I'm not doing any more after this – it was only supposed to be a tag scene, SO DON'T ASK!!! . Much as I love you all, I have no inspiration or time for this. I need to update my other two stories first, do my exams panics and then start writing another.

SET 5 YEARS AFTER STAR CAME BACK...PRESENT TITANS, NOT FUTURE . (Trying not to confuse you...work with me here people!)

CHAPTER 2: NEVERMORE

**The sky slowly flies over me as I watch from where I lay...**

Robin stared at the thinning clouds as he lay on the open level of Titan's Tower. It was a spot that they all treasured for quiet thinking and reflection, and Starfire and Raven favoured it when they wanted peace and quiet away from the usually bickering guys to meditate.

**I wait with bated breath as the pain fades away...**

Their recent defeat of Slade had released Robin from Slade's dominance, and allowed both the young leader and the rest of the Titan's to sleep at night without the worry of Slade using yet another mind trick to gain Robin as his apprentice. The pain of Slade's control – physical and emotional – was fading, but Robin knew it would take time before he could fully forget the ordeal.

**And I will, I will break free,**

**From the chains that you have placed round me...**

The metaphorical chains and shackles Slade had used to keep Robin within his grasp were now broken forever. Robin belonged to no one but himself.

**Broken, nevermore to bind me...**

The past could be a friend and an enemy. But you are eternally bound to your past, and Robin knew it. He could use his past mistakes to ensure they would not be repeated in the future, but he would never be able to escape it. It would be with him for the rest of his life, reminding him of his naivety and innocence and mistakes that could have cost his closest friends their lives.

**This regret fades, leaving marks in my skin...**

He had physical scars to prove it, but the emotional ones would take a lot longer to heal.

**Woken, leave the cold behind me,**

**(And) Chainless I stretch open these frosted wings...**

He was a new person. Time had shown him his life in perspective, and he wasn't about to make the same mistakes again. And a new person would need a new identity. Robin was a good leader, true, but not as experienced and wise as he was now.

One word came to mind, clear as the day Star had first said it, five years ago. Her young voice was fresh in his memory.

"Nightwing."

NEXT EVENING

Starfire made her way up to the roof and hovered by the door, breathing in the fresh air. She enjoyed coming out and watching the sun setting over the horizon on a clear day – one of the many beautiful times that Robin had shown her when she first arrived on Earth. This was one of the few places that she could just sit and be herself; not have to remember the terrifying ordeal Slade had put her through in a last desperate attempt to recapture Robin before the Titans finally managed to destroy him.

**The cracks in my shattered heart run deep through my soul...**

Slade had captured Starfire and injected her with a hallucinogenic drug that caused her to believe she had been abandoned by the Titans, and she willingly agreed to work for him. Still not used to the customs of Earth, Slade taught her what he pleased, and when the Titans had found her and she had been forced to kill them, her previous view of the world was cluttered with memories, both false and true. Right before his demise, Slade had ensured Starfire and Robin would go head-to-head in a fight to the death, and after her rescue it had caused a rift between the Titans. Raven was now Starfire's confidante, and the telepath seemed to be the only one who understood what she was going through, having controlled her powers enough to be able to read people and feel their thoughts and emotions without the risk of causing explosions in the close vicinity. Although the Tamaranian was still one of the Titans and part of the close-knit friendship they had forged over years together, they no longer seemed to understand her, or what she had been through whilst in the clutches of Slade.

**And I sit here in the dark, no longer care that I'm alone...**

She knew that if she allowed herself to drift away, she would be alone, but she didn't care. She always had her home planet to return to, but she kept that as a last resort.

**I will, I will break free,**

**I don't need the chains you have placed round me...**

She was strong enough now and wiser. Strong and wise enough to realise what was happening and whether it was right or wrong. Much as she hated to admit it, her time with Slade had taught her a lot, even though she would prefer not to remember it at all.

**Broken, nevermore to bind me,**

**This regret fades, leaving marks in my skin,**

**Woken, leave the cold behind me,**

**(And) Chainless I stretch open these frosted wings...**

During her transformation, Star had developed small wings that seemed fragile but were practically unbreakable – another distinctive feature of her enhanced powers. Whenever she unfurled them to gain extra speed during a fight, her opponent would stare in shock at the angelic apparition before them and give her time to attack them, usually leaving them lying unconscious on the floor for the police to pick up, rambling on about an angel of justice that had manifested in front of their own eyes. She only used them to her advantage when she was in great need of them, and unknowingly to her the rest of the Titans now held her in awe, as if she were some fragile heaven-sent spirit that had taken on the form of Starfire, instead of their amiable, naïve companion from their youth.

As she moved towards the edge of the building, she caught sight of a young man standing watching the sun disappearing. One look brought back memories along with confused feelings from when she had dived through the portal and emerged in the future.

"Nightwing?"

The figure turned to her and she could see his face more clearly; it was Nightwing, but he seemed younger.

"Star, it's me."

Robin. She would be able to recognise his voice anywhere, and a sudden feeling of apprehension washed over her as he approached the alien girl.

"But...you..."

"I needed a change. I guess you could say I outgrew Robin. I'm not like him any more."

"Does this have anything to do with..."

Again, Nightwing cut her off. "It has something to with Slade, yes, but none of it is your fault. You had no idea Star, and I blame you for nothing."

She nodded, trying to understand what was going on. "But if you are Nightwing, does this not mean you are going to leave the Titans?"

Nightwing let out a short laugh. "What makes you think that?"

"When...when I visited the future, Nightwing was so because he had left the Titans and did not wish to be remembered as Robin or associated with them. Does this mean you are leaving?" Star asked fearfully.

Sensing her fear, Nightwing placed a hand on her shoulder. "No, Star. Whatever happened in the future will not happen here. You changed that. And I am not leaving the Titans any time soon. Don't worry."

She did not seem convinced, but just nodded and turned to face the darkening sky to hide the confusing mix of fear and relief in her emerald eyes.

**Broken, stripped, shattered by might...**

Both the figures standing atop the architectural amazement had been deeply hurt by the mystery named Slade; their shattered emotions caused by the might of him. Although their companionship and emotional ties were strong enough to pull through, the ties had been whittled down to a shred, and would take a lot of rebuilding to get back to their original state. But a shred was all they needed. They both possessed strong spirits, and were backed by friends that would never leave them.

**Minute by minute I will treasure this night...**

"Nightwing, I..." Starfire started, but found she could go no further. Gazing up at him, she realised she did not need to say anything – he could understand her from what she was conveying through her eyes.

"I know, Star. I know," he sighed. Hope filled her shimmering orbs, and he smiled.

**Never...**

His arms slid round her waist, and she found herself leaning against his chest crying. All the pent-up emotions from the recent events were flowing out in the form of salty tears, and yet Starfire found herself filled with joy at the prospect that Nightwing returned her feelings.

**Broken, stripped, shattered by might,**

**Minute by minute I will treasure this night,**

**Nevermore...**

Their resolve strengthened, the two individuals who had been through hell and come out alive but damaged revelled in the knowledge that they had each other if nothing else to get them through the time they had ahead.

Nevermore would Slade be able to rip them apart and use one against the other.

**Broken, nevermore to bind me,**

**This regret fades, leaving marks in my skin,**

**Woken, leave the cold behind me,**

**(And) Chainless I stretch open these frosted wings...**

**Nevermore...**

****

**Author's Note:** Okay, please tell me what you think! This was done a little earlier this time...about 10:00 pm.... This is the end...no more will be done on this fid – it is finished. I will be starting to write more over the summer, so expect lots of updates then. But for now, I have exams, so love to you all and hope to see your reviews again soon!

Sorry about the layout etc, but ff.net have this new evil edit thing. It mucks up what I saved, so I'm sorry if it's difficult to read!

(hugs) Hope x x x


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